2a track bar anyone done it?

i have a 46 cj2a with a spring over and lift shackles. im geting a real bad pull when i let off the gas over 35 ,she jumps to the right bad. would a track bar give me a little more stability on the streets. ive replaced all the bushings and still get movement up front when i shake the wheel. its similar to when the track bar busings on my ford 350 whent bad real scary to drive.

 

oh yeah shes real slopy goin down the road but every thing is tight ie. tie rods, steering box etc its drivin me nuts :dead horse:

 

It may not be in the front at all. If that rear is walking it will cause the front to dart all over the road. I assume you are doing this in 2W drive?

 

yea it almost scary the only reason i think its the front is that the body and frame moves slihgtly back and foth above the axle and a freind also said it might be a weak leaf sprig? is this possible? but it could also be both what would cause the rear to act like that?

 

Well we need a couple details, do you have the stock steering or saginaw? What axles? Any pics? Whats your caster at on your front axle?

 

Is your drag link at a steep angle? that will do that and bump steer too. as the suspention moves up and town the drag link will move (Steer) the wheels side to side. That rod has to be on the same plane with the axle housing as possable to handle well!

 

What everbody else said. Just wanna throw out that if you want a stock YJ track bar I've got one. Free if you wanna come grab it.

My initial though is it probably isn't steering related. I'd look at the rear brake drums grabbing an or maybe your diff. Track bar would be more for bump steer.

Give us some info:
Suspension spring over/under & what springs?
Shackle length
Caster angle (bottom ball joint or kingpin should be about 4-degrees in front of upper)
Tire pressure
Front or rear locker or no?
Steering type (saginaw, ross cam & lever, where does the drag link attach - knuckle or tie rod).
Photo of your steering would be good
Tranny mounts good?

 

it is soa with 2 inch shakles rancho springs and saginaw, trany mt is ok ,the drag link is at a real steep angle atatched to the tie rod, and im runnin 35s at 36 psi front and 32 rear. im unsure about a rear locker but none up front and i should have my caster checked at a shop since i didnt do the spring over the jeep was already set up with shakles and all. the only thing im thinkin now is the rear tires arent matched they are both bfg mts but ones the new style and ones the older style without the side lugs they are all still new tread wise could this lead to it, maybe a slight diferance between tire diameter?and ill get pics as soon as i can. hopefully later today. thanks every one for the advice ive gotten about this and will get i really want this thing back on the road.

 

You can check the caster angle yourself. Go buy a cheap angle finder at Home Depot or Lowes and lay it on the top knuckle. At any rate, you can eyeball it. Bottom ball joint/kingpin shoudl be slightly forward of upper. If it's even with or in back of upper ball joint you'll have bad wander.

Even though the drag link angle may be steep, it shouldn't really affect the steering under the conditions you describe unless the nose of the Jeep really drops when you let off the gas. Steep drag link angle will give bad bump steer (steering wheel turns as suspension compresses/drops out) but it shouldn't really make it funky due in part to throttle input. That's really a locker/limited slip thing.

I just did a whole story on this, but you can't wait for it to come out in print. First, check to see if you've got a limited slip or locker. Jack both rear tires off the ground and spin one. If the opposite tire spins in the same direction you've got a limited slip or locker. If it spins in the opposity direction you've got an open diff.

Tire size really affects the situation you're describing and - yes - different models of the same tire (even if they're the same size) can be up to 1.5-inches different.

By the way, you've got too much pressure in your tires. They look like 33x12.50s from your avitar. I'd say you should drop the pressure 10lbs front and rear. Your tires are probably crowning and riding on the center treads, making the situation worse.

 

ok ill get to the depot tonite an ill try the air preasure thing should i put one of my front tires in place of the new one in the back to match them and if my caster is off do i have to rotate my knuckles or is there an easier way to do it its closed knuckle 44 and the nose does drop just not extreemly maybe an inc or two atleast thats how it feels

 

Either cut/turn the knuckles or shims to correct the caster. Try the cheap/free stuff first though and see how it affects it

 

An inch or two could do it.

First, check for a locker.
Second, drop the pressure
Thrid, swap the tires to see if it helps
I wouldn't worry about checking the caster other than eyeballing it right now. You should be able to see it with the naked eye. Remember - lower kingpin should be in front of upper.

There are other things you could check, but they would present themselves at other times - not just when you're letting off the gas. Stuff like worn shackle bushings, loose axle U-bolts, broken spring leaves, etc. They'd all cause it to go squirrelly when you hit any bump and not just when you're letting off the gas. It's the throttle thing that keeps pointing me back to the rear alxe and/or tires.

Since you've already got a Saginaw steering box it should be easy to get a dropped pitman arm on there to alleviate the extreme angle you're talking about. They're available for both power and manual steering boxes, so no worries there.

 

We just went through a similar situation with one of my wifes Jeeps and it turned out to be that the u-bolts had loosened on the axles.

 

Mine did the same thing when I let off the gas. I found the frame was cracked around the front shackle mounts. I replaced everything in the front end and it still did it. I laid on the floor and had my son move the steering wheel back and forth. I could see lots of movement at the shackle mounts. I noticed a little bit of rust around the top of the shackle mount so I scraped off all the paint. Big cracks everywhere. The head of one of the rivets that holds the front crossmember was pulled through the hole. I did a major rebuild to my front frame rails and got rid of the white knuckle darts. You might check for a cracked frame. This is a pretty common problem on older CJ's.

 

all the spring mounts are good. i found a small crack right next to the engine ground but doesnt seem big enuff to affect the handling this bad. ill get a pic first thing in the mornin. the last two pics are the rear tires the top view of the tire. does the whole body taper to the front or just from the door forward? i didnt notice till i looked in the pic my rear end is sitin crooked. i think its my front springs the rears are fairly new but i have no clue on the fronts and the one "oversized" tire. ill let every one know what i end up with when i can get back to workin on it. thanks again e 1. let me know if you guys see anything in the pics i dont.

 

id loose the lift shackles its probrobly a mix of that and the caster

 

alot of guys do somthing like this
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/porsche930dude/IMG_5659-1.jpg